Cinnamon-flavored spicy pear-like fruit shaped like a large rose hip, just under 2" in diameter. Good eating when ripe, thin-skinned with applesauce-like texture. Fruit cultivated in Europe and England since the Middle Ages or earlier, and still considered a culinary delight.
Fruit is hard when harvested after the first hard frost and must be bletted—allowed to ripen for several weeks in a cool place. Tastes best just before it turns mushy.
1–2" white flowers blushed with pink bloom May to June. Shiny green waxy leaves, a nice addition to the fruiting landscape. Begins bearing fruit 2–3 years after planting. One tree could bear 20 lbs of fruit once established.
Plant in well-drained fertile soil, full sun. Native to southeast Europe and Iran. Self-fertile.